Nigerian Adages that are Wise, Funny and Hilarious for You to Share with Friends

Words of wisdom are something that will always bring about a positive mindset for those that need to learn the very positives of life. If you seek to understand how life is, then you should be someone that is close to wise elders to tap from their wealth of experience in life. These collections of Nigerian proverbs are words of wisdom from the elders concerning our everyday life challenges.

Sometimes these words of wise saying are something we need to better our life and thoughts about any situation we encounter. If you care about your friends, go ahead and share these proverbs with them.

[1]. Money doesn't change people; your attitude when they have nothing does.

[2]. You don't see one going to bury his dead and ask him to hope all is well.

[3]. You don't cry more than the owner of a dead body.

[4]. He who swallows a coconut has absolute trust on his anus.

[5]. Charity makes way for good tidings.

[6]. When your motive is right your future is secure.

[7]. A child that doesn’t know his mother’s boyfriend calls him brother.

[8]. Any man who says his brother will never become a king will never be a brother to a king.

[9]. A fellow who cannot work will remain in the structural church forever shouting "I receive it".

[10]. The gentleness of a lion in the forest does not mean he is lazy but rather on target.

[11]. Harvest is no blessing if death is the crop.

[12]. A child who refuses to take instruction will end up in destruction.

[13]. Do not conclude that you are made financially, until you get married.

[14]. The cockroach cannot be innocent in the gathering of fools.

[15]. It is better to try and fail than not to try at all.

Sincerely speaking, sharing words of wise saying is one of the things that would make you understand that life should not be seen as a do or die affair. These friendship inspiring proverbs about life are words of wisdom you would love to share with friends around you.

[16]. If the only tool a man has is the hammer, he tends to treat every issue as a nail.

[17]. He who has two watches does not know what exactly the time says.

[18]. He who has gold and sells it to buy bronze because it look alike and cheaper, in the process of time when he tries getting his gold back by selling the bronze, he will never get the price of gold back, insist on values.

[19]. Is good to be good; but no matter how much good you do to a bicycle rider he must shame/show you with his button before leaving your present.

[20]. When God is in charge, the devil is discharged. So in all your running get God involved.

[21]. No matter how far a bird can fly it will still come down to drink water.

[22]. Be more careful about those who are closer to you because it is them that will bring your enemies home.

[23]. The flat chest of a girl has a plan.

[24]. The finger is guilty of stains when the hand is used in eating yam with palm oil.

[25]. If the angels in Heaven don't know when Jesus is coming back, why do you try to know your husband's heart?

[26]. A rich man that is known for his magnanimity is only building strong hands that may lift him up in case he falls tomorrow.

[27]. Haters are like an acid, it damages the vessel in which it is stored and destroys the vessel on which it is poured. Always forgive.

[28]. It takes a comfortable foolish man to be poor because he lacks managerial skills, but the wise man would always ride on the horse of prosperity because he knows what to do with wisdom.

[29]. All lizards are lying prostrate, until the sick one is forced to lie upside-down you will never get to know which of them has a troubled stomach.

[30]. Life is in phases and men are in sizes.

[31]. A life without vision is equal to frustration.

[32]. When you see the chief masquerade in the afternoon, he is been invited by the chief priest or the King.

[33]. A good advice is a second mother for a child.

[34]. What an elder sees sitting, a youngster cannot see it even if he climbs an Iroko tree.

[35]. No matter how tall and strong an Iroko tree might be, it must definitely dance to the tune of the wind.

[36]. When a sheep walked into a lion den, it was only the lion that would tell the story.

[37]. A crab once said when a play goes to the stage where it requires folding its hands backward he will begs to leave.

[38]. The Bible says that we should try to be at peace with all men, but never mean to please others and displease yourself because you can never please all men.

[39]. When a man marries a bad woman as wife he is very close to his early grave.

[40]. One man's food remains another man's poison. The one who refused to eat it is not an idiot.

[41]. When you see a child talking to an elder hitting hand on his chest, two things, if that child does not have money, then he's a wizard.

[42]. Run all you can when a fowl starts pursuing you early in the morning because you don't know if it has developed teeth over the night.

[43]. When the bush is on fire, the chameleon easily learns to run fast.

[44]. It never rains but it pours because after the rain comes the shine.

[45]. But he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.

Friendship proverbs are to bring words of wisdom into your life and that of your friends. When you understand the true meaning of any proverb, it will help you live a worthy life. We have here some collections of friendship proverbs that you can share with your friends.

[46]. The truth is very bitter to hear. It's better to say it and hurt the person, than telling the person when the mistake has been made.

[47]. He who borrows shoes and clothes for a particular occasion, will certainly not dance well in the public.

[48]. The Tongue said that the drinking water he always requests is not for himself but for the people of his community, that as for him, his compound doesn't lack water.

[49]. You cannot go with a gun after someone and decides for him how he would dodges and escapes from your terror.

[50]. It's only the elders of the town that knows the boundary of the land.

[51]. A fish dwells in a river, but that doesn't make it a crocodile.

[52]. He who fetches and brings in ant infested firewood to his house should not complain when a lizard begins to pay him a visit.

[53]. He that complains that his house is too far should not forget that someone is living behind you.

[54]. If you want to know a man's true character and behaviour, then give him money, freedom, power and authority; he will behave strangely.

[55]. No matter the high velocity of an airplane it must surely come down to obey the law of gravity.

[56]. An honest man is that man who has no opportunity to steal.

[57]. The best advice to oneself is to stop eating what you don't love so that if it becomes yours; you won't find a way of escape.

[58]. When you see a rabbit, in the hot afternoon, it means there is fire on the mountain or soldier ants have invaded his territory.

[59]. Any man who complains that the soup is too much and the garri is small, that man cannot handle success.

[60]. A man that keeps a female as best friend is like keeping a chicken as a pet one day you must eat it.

[61]. If the crocodile can eat his own eggs, what will we do to the flesh of a frog? Meaning he who can destroy himself will not spare another.

[62]. The old age of Methuselah has nothing to do with the wisdom of Solomon. Meaning age doesn't determine maturity.

[63]. After the days of ignorance, the children of the Frogs told the children of the Snakes, that the words of wisdom that their mother gave to them, our mother have also given it to us. No more playing together anymore.

[64]. If it were left for only the tortoise and the snail in the bush then there is no need for a gun short.

[65]. Something must be done to a barking dog before it pronounces the name of his master.

[66]. Wise men don't fight with weapons; of course they sit on the table to settle their differences.

[67]. Any man, who fights using his strength, is not fit for this 21st century generation.

[68]. He who presents his head to break a coconut will not partake in the eating of it, be wise life has no duplicate.

[69]. People may say, I know how you feel, but the truth is that no one else can really know how sad or happy you are.

[70]. The gentleness of a tiger is not cowardice but a calculated assault. Be careful.

[71]. When a goat that doesn't know how to eat yam continues moving with a goat that eat yam, soon it will start eating yams more than the one that eats yam.

[72]. A child at the back of his mother doesn't know the distance covered by her on the way.

[73]. If you marry the right person you have a prayer partner and if you marry the wrong person you have a prayer point.

[74]. No matter how fast an eagle can fly its belly must be seen.

[75]. The dog of the village Chief is not the Chief of all dogs in the village.

Indeed proverbs are ways of life that teaches many lessons of reformation.  When you are in a gathering with friends, it is of essence that your words should be guided with wise sayings of the elders. Here are more collections of wise friendship proverbs you can share with your friends where you too can learn from them.

[76]. The day a mosquito perches on your testicle is the day you realize that not all disputes are settled by violence.

[77]. When you marry a person with Television instead of a person with vision, you will end up watching the person with vision in your television all your life.

[78]. The road of I don't care will lead you to the city of had I know.

[79]. A car cannot move without gas or fuel, a man is incomplete without a woman, salt is useless without its taste, bird cannot fly without their wings, planes cannot fly without a pilot, guns cannot shoot without a bullet, a baby cannot grow without food and you cannot do anything without God.

[80]. A man that hangs around a beautiful lady without saying a word ends up fetching water for guests on her wedding day.

[81]. When an astrologer decided to study the sky while walking around the earth he definitely fell into a ditch.

[82]. Weddings are for the crowd, while marriage is for the couple. Please do not excite the crowd and suffer in marriage.

[83]. Anyone who withdraws money from the ATM and goes ahead to recount the money has trust issues.

[84]. When a girl has beauty and has no fear of God and brain, her private part suffers the most.

[85]. A fool's brain has two sides left and right, on the left side there is nothing right, and on the right side there is nothing left.

[86]. No matter how long it may be, a stammerer must surely pronounce his father’s name.

[87]. Humans love bird and invented a cage for a bird but God love bird and invented a tree for a bird.

[88]. The weakness of God is stronger than men and the foolishness of God is wiser than men.

[89]. The Agama lizard says that the reason why he normally took to his heels whenever he sees a group of people around is the fact that what people have learnt to eat with palm oil, salt and pepper these days is numerous.

[90]. The most disastrous thing in life is for you to know the truth and ignore it for selfish interest! You know what? It will hunt you for the rest of your life.

[91]. When you see a lion laughing with a goat my brother, be careful because some people may appear pleasant but destructive.

[92]. It is better for me to eat a dry crust of loaf with peace of mind than to have a banquet in a home full of trouble.

[93]. He who washes his hands clean; eats with elders. And the friend of a king is a king by extension. Keep your tongue and save your life. God's grace is the greatest ability in all our disabilities.

[94]. Don't make friends with people who have hot and violent tempers. You might learn their habits and not be able to change.

[95]. Young girls are like unripe mangoes while some men are waiting for them to mature while others are eating them with salt.

[96]. When you do good to people do not expect them to pay you back, human beings cannot pay you for the good you have done to them but God, look upon God, He rewards all your good doing.

[97]. When you hear a blind man boasting that he would break another person's head with a stone, know that he is already having one in his pocket or he is placing his foot on one.

[98]. Mr. Crab said he knows the journey he wants to embark on will be good for him if rain starts beating him from the front of his house.

[99]. They said great things don’t come easy but hardwork. We only send congratulations but we don't know how they got there.

[100]. Some things others regard as mistakes are best known by the person that committed it. That was why a man wearing a wedding ring on the wrong finger when asked, he said because he married a wrong woman.

[101]. Be wise enough not to wear yourself out trying to get rich. Your money can be gone in a flash, as if it had grown wings and flown away like an eagle.

[102]. You don't need to tell a blind man that rain is falling because it's his eyes that's blind and not his ears.

[103]. The choice you didn't make will be made for you. Tea/coffee and you tell anyone they will give you their choice. So, please be decisive.

[104]. It is very correct when you say he who pays the piper dictates the tone.

[105]. Knowledge from the wise is full of wisdom.

[106]. The firewood of this world is made for only those that can carry it; that's why not all can gather it.

[107]. No lost in life is as dangerous as loss of hope.

[108]. A man can quote the whole Bible for you but his life stinks like that of a dead rat.

[109]. If I knew that my snail would crawl I would have covered it.

[110]. Use your tongue to count your teeth, not with your finger.

Amazingly when something is funny, it makes us laugh. These funny and hilarious Nigerian proverbs would make you laugh hard. If you are thinking of relieving some stress, here are some collections of famous and hilarious Nigerian proverbs for your comfort.

[111]. The protection of a young chick is from the wings of the mother hen.

[112]. Lead from the back so that others will believe that they are in front.

[113]. Truth has only one colour, it never changes.

[114]. Tears and water might look alike but they do not taste the same.

[115]. Not until a frog jumps into hot water, it will not know that there are different types of water.

[116]. To give a monkey cup is not the problem but to collect the cup from the monkey is where the problem is.

[117]. Do not be hasty in your spirit to be angry; for anger rests in the bosom of fools.

[118]. The road that leads to success is always under construction.

[119]. A bird that flies so high, fall from the sky.

[120]. A child who is bold enough to go to the farm on Eke day, must be bold enough to face the consequences.

[121]. It is only a thief that recognizes the footprints of another thief on a rocky planet.

[122]. Shame does not follow man and woman to enter the room.

[123]. You don't tell an Elder he's lying. You show him he's lying.

[124]. A pound in an entrepreneur's hand is worth more than a million in a lazy man’s pocket.

[125]. When a fowl suddenly begins to visit a guinea fowl she guards her eggs with jealousy.

[126]. A river does not flow through the forest without bringing down the trees.

[127]. Do not go out only to marry a pretty lady because you may not be the only one who sleep with her, her beauty is something that makes her private part suffered a lot.

[128]. No matter how hot the sun heats up the earth, the hen can never lay a cooked egg.

[129]. A toad does not run in the afternoon for nothing.

[130]. In life one has to know that short cuts are always wrong way.

[131]. You don't use a mirror to look at what you wearing in your hand.

[132]. If you can endure the wife of 16 years in the home with a bad attitude then nothing is strange again.

[133]. It is very difficult to explain the dry bone of an old woman in a proverb.

[134]. A rat with many children always sleeps with her door open.

[135]. No matter how long it takes a stammerer, he must surely pronounce his father's name.

[136]. The sky is too big to accommodate both the pigeons and eagles.

[137]. A child that knows how to die must also know how to cover his eye.

[138]. The wise words of the elders are sure balm to a bleeding soul.

[139]. When a Hyena flirt with the hen, the hen is happy not knowing that its death is near.

[140]. When an animal starts with a bad run, the hunter has no option than to give him a bad bullet.

[141]. Wisdom is of no known address, sometimes a fool could be wiser.

[142]. A dog destined to die does not hear the whistle of its master.

[143]. A stubborn fly that refuses to hear word follows the dead body to the grave.

[144]. No matter how erect and aggressive the manhood may be, it still lies upon the testis.

[145]. The gentleness of a lion is never a symbol of humility.

[146]. If a bird learns how to fly without perching, a hunter learns how to shoot without aiming.

[147]. It is better to smile for nothing than to frown for something.

[148]. Never fight a person with nothing and still hope for nothing, he has nothing to lose.

[149]. Extra carefulness is needed in killing the mosquito that perches on one's stratum.

[150]. Without an understanding of wisdom we are premature to mature enough to speak to learned once.

[151]. There is nothing that has a beginning without an end. Anything that has a beginning most surely has an end.

[152]. A stubborn fly follows the curbs into the grave.

[153]. The discrepancy between man and woman is not just in between legs.

[154]. If the hand can break iron the stick begins to get afraid.

[155]. He or anyone who fetches an ant-infested fireman should not complain when it begins to pay him a visit.

[156]. A woman who robs her husband's private part in the public ends up giving the husband to the community as an article.

[157]. When a hunter is trying to hunt an animal that is bigger than him, he becomes the animal.

[158]. No man is an Iceland, in this life you need someone and someone needs you.

[159]. The enemy you know is better than a friend you don't know.

[160]. A beautiful girl without character is like a fertile ground that has not been cultivated.